Mini Cards – Pinwheel

Well it was confirmed that it was a tornado that came through here Monday afternoon.  1/4 mile wide and made a 25 mile path through our county.  I found out yesterday that the street just past ours had trees down and maybe even one on a house – that is what a neighbor told us.  There was a huge crane there late yesterday – I could see it from my sunroom.  They said 400 homes were damaged, most of them right here near us.  Luckily no one was seriously hurt.

Today I have another mini card – it is a pinwheel card and I’m going to try to show and explain how to make the pinwheel.  I have actually made them two different ways so I’ll try to describe both.  But first here is the finished card.

I used the Big Top DSP – the base is Real Red, then a layer of Whisper White with a little strip of punched Tempting Turquoise.  The happy birthday is from Teeny Tiny Wishes.  The stars on the envelope are from Extreme Elements set – I used them because the paper had stars.

So here is how you made the pinwheel.  Start with a square piece of paper.  Fold one point to the opposite so you get a triangle – do this in both directions and you end up with a cross through the paper.  On the fold lines you will cut from the outside corner toward the center and stop about 1/4″ from the center of the square.

Now what you will be doing is taking all points from the same side and folding them in to the center – you need to slightly cross over the center.  Do this one at a time. To help them stay in place put a little bit of adhesive on each point.

fold first point across the center

 

fold the point in to the center - overlap the first point

now the third point comes across

and the fourth point comes across

Once all four points are across the center you will use the paper piercer to poke a hole through all four points and the center of the square.  Then put a brad through – I put a small turquoise circle on the brad before poking it through.

Another method to get to this point is to punch a hole through each point and thread them on the brad and then through the center of the square.  This can be trickier for some people but then you are sure to have a hole in each point, you don’t need to use adhesive and you don’t need to overlap the points quite as much.

I put this on my card with  a Stampin’ Dimensional.  Mine is a tiny one but you could make them any size you want by adjusting the size of the square that you are starting with.

Since this one had so many pictures I’ll wait and finish the mini cards tomorrow.  Have a great day!

Tuesday and Tornado’s

Wow what a day we had on Monday.  It started and ended with just rain – which we desperately needed – I think it has been several weeks since we had any.  But the afternoon brought Tornado Warnings and sirens sounding – I think they went off at least 6 different times.  A reported tornado came through near hear in Towne Lake Hills South and Deer Run and then further north in Holly Springs.  My Mother-in-law had some of her trees fall over to the neighbors house and car.  And her power was out for a while.  I was out at the grocery store and just getting home as it all came through – but I didn’t know that was what was happening.  I had to take Tyler’s car so I parked in the driveway and I was debating on the best way to get the groceries out and not have them get more soaked than what they already were.  Then the wind all of a sudden was so fierce I just ran out of the car into the garage and shut it real quick.  I left all the groceries and went to the tv to see what was going on.  A tornado warning and it was right in our area.  A few minutes later it was past us and at the end of our drive way a purple kiddie swimming pool.  Not sure where it came from there aren’t any little kids on our street so who knows.  But no damage here – limbs down and a roof shingle was in the back yard – not sure if it is ours – we didn’t see anything on a brief look at the roof – it could have come from Deer Run or TLHS.  Anyway – not the day that we planned – we didn’t go apple picking like we had hoped.  But all my boys were here at home so I didn’t have to worry about them.  So enough about that.

It is Tuesday and another Color Challenge!  The Utah Diva’s Color Challenge and we are on week #52.   Here is the inspiration picture for this week –

I really like this color combination – some fun happy colors.  I decided to go with a sketch that I found in a paper crafting magazine.

The picture isn’t the best – sorry about that.  It is actually a pretty quick card to make.  The base is Cherry Cobbler.  Then  a panel of Whisper White – instead of centering it on the card it is aligned with the bottom left corner.  I stamped a greeting at the top.  Then I punched circles of Designer Series Paper using my 1-1/4″ Circle punch – Cherry Cobbler, So Saffron, Peach Parfait, and Wild Wasabi.  Then I decided to get out my Bitty Buttons and the Itty Bitty Punch pack and add little buttons to each of the circles.  I used all four shapes.

I’ll be back with the rest of the Mini Cards tomorrow.

Click on this link to go to the  Utah Diva’s Color Challenge blog.   There you can see the creations from the entire design team and add a link to your creation if you decide to play along.

Stampin’ Up! Supplies:

  • Card stock:  Cherry Cobbler, Whisper White
  • Ink: Cherry Cobbler
  • Stamp sets: Sweetly Said
  • Accessories:  1-1/4″ Circle Punch, Bitty Punch Pack, Bitty Buttons, White Baker Twine, Cherry Cobbler Seam Binding, Patterns Designer Series paper – Regals, Subtles, In-Colors, mini Glue Dots.

To order Stampin’ Up! Supplies to make this project click here.

Mini Cards – Butterfly and Window

Happy Monday!  We are hoping to take the boys and head north to go apple picking today – however the weather might not cooperate with us.  We are supposed to have 100% chance of rain with 6-10 inches over the next day or two.  That’s a lot of rain and we haven’t had any in quite a while – we just don’t need that much at one time.  So we will see if we actually get to go.

I have two more mini cards today.  The first one came from the +FUN class that I took at convention called Every Last Detail.  I took just one element from our project and used it on a 3×3 mini card.

This picture doesn’t show the sparkle on the butterfly very well.  Let me tell you how I did it and then I’ll show you a close up of the butterfly so you can see the sparkle.  A piece of Vellum Paper is punched with the Butterfly punch and also a piece of the Daffodil Delight card stock.  Then take a Stampin’ Sponge (I cut mine into 1/8s) – spray a little bit of water on it – then dab the Smooch Pearlized Top Coat on the sponge.

Now dab the sponge on the vellum butterfly – it will curl up a bit and then flatten out as it dries.  Layer the vellum butterfly on the Daddofil Butterfly.  Punch hole in the center and add a small paper flower and then a brad.

In the  close up you can see the sparkle on the vellum.

The base of the card is Lucky Limeade.  The bottom is stamped with the image from the Borderlines stamp set.  There is a strip of Daffodil Delight and Whisper White.   And some Lucky Limeade Ruffled ribbon tied on the side.  The butterfly is attached with a Stampin’ Dimensional.

The second card was and idea from one of the swaps I received – I changed the stamp set and orientation of the card.

I called it a window card or peek-a-boo card because the inside peeks through to the front.  It is similar to one of the swap cards that I made for convention but this one is just smaller.  To begin with you need to punch the scallop edge on the card front.  Then you can punch the circle into the front using the 1-3/4″ circle punch.

Then for the inside I punched a circle from Whisper White card stock using the 2-1/2″ circle punch and stamped on it using the Love & Care stamp set from the Summer Mini Catalog.  On the front of the card use a white Gel pen to add the doodles around the circle.

There is also a strip of So Saffron card stock on the inside that shows off behind the scalloped front.  To finish I added a jewelry tag punch stamped with Hello and added with the White Baker’s Twine to the side of the card.

I hope you like these little cards today!  Have a happy Labor Day!

Mini Cards – Just Believe and Elebration

Back to the Mini Cards…..

This first card was a swap that I received at convention from my friend Linda Madison.

It is such a beautiful little card.  The technique is a marker technique – you color directly on the stamp with the Stampin’ Write Markers.  For this card the leaves are Old Olive and the flowers are More Mustard and Poppy Parade.  After you are done coloring you re-moisten the stamp by huffing on it.  Then stamp on the paper.  The greeting is from Teeny Tiny Wishes.  A thin mat of Poppy Parade was added between the stamped piece and the base.

This next card uses the cute stamp Elebration from the A la Carte section of the catalog.  I love this little guy….

Somewhere around the age of 10-12 I started collecting elephants.  I had many in my collection from all over and all different types.  In one of my school classes we even hand carved a stamp and guess what mine was – an elephant – that was so long ago and who would have thought then that now many years later I would be stamping every day.  I still have that elephant stamp in my craft room – maybe I need to put some ink on it and make a card with it.  Or at least take a picture of it to show everyone on my blog.  While I don’t really collect new elephants any more I still am drawn to them and tempted to buy every stamp set that I see with an elephant I am tempted but I haven’t actually done it.  I did however get this little guy since he was all by himself – he is cute for birthday or baby and I have a couple of other ideas for him that I have yet to try out.

Anyway on to the card itself.  The base is Old Olive with a layer of Pacific Point that was embossed with the new Stripes Textured Embossing Folder.  I don’t think you can see it well in this picture – but there are stripes on it.  I stamped the elephant on Whisper White card stock using JetBlack Stazon ink.  When I watercolored him with an aqua painter and watercolor crayons – a little bit of grey and some pink in his ears, bottom of his feet and tail.   Then I cut him out.  I also stamped again on patterned paper – the cake on a striped piece and the balloon on a polka dotted piece and cut those out just exactly on the outline and pieced them on top.  The candle is colored just with Stampin’ Write Markers.  Here is a close up –

One little trick to tell you is how to cut the small area between the arm, trunk and string of the balloon.  The easiest way to cut out small places like this is to first punch a hole with the 1/16″ handheld punch inside the space.  Then insert the tip of your paper snips and work your way around the space.  This is how I do all small spaces rather than just trying to poke the scissors in which tends to bend the paper.

That’s the two I have to share with you today.  Have a great weekend!

Mini Cards – Open Sea and Button Buddies

I hope you enjoyed the box yesterday.  Today I’m going to start sharing some of the Mini cards that we created to go in the box.  These are all 3×3 finished cards so you start with a piece of 3″ x 6″ card stock and fold it in half.  They fit inside the mini square envelopes.

This first card features the Open Sea stamp set and Nautical Expedition Designer Series paper from the Stampin’ Up! Summer Mini Catalog.  The base of the card is Not Quite Navy and a strip of the designer paper.  Next a piece of Early Espresso and Crumb Cake.  The images are stamped on the Crumb Cake square – the globe in Crumb Cake ink and the Anchor is actually Basic Gray ink.  Before I attached this piece to the Early Espresso square I added the little Vintage Trinket safety pin.  Here is a close up picture of how I did that.

I used the 1/16″ circle punch and punched a hole inside the top of the anchor and another just outside.  Then slide the open end of the safety pin through both holes and close it up again.  Tie the Early Espresso Baker’s Twine to the safety pin.  This design came right out of the Summer Mini Catalog.

That’s it for that one.  Now on to the second card for today –

This one features the Button Buddies stamp set along with the Extreme Elements set and the Happiest Birthday Wishes hostess stamp set.  The base of the card is Sahara Sand.  Stamp the block of dots from Extreme Elements in More Mustard ink.  Here is a close up of where I stamped.

There is a strip of Well Worn Designer Series Paper across the card and the greeting was stamped on the bottom.  The snail from Button Buddies is stamped on a piece of Whisper White card stock using Early Espresso ink.  Punch out with the wide oval punch (I know that is the old name but I just can’t remember what the new name is).  Behind that is a punch out of More Mustard card stock using the 1-3/4″ circle punch.  On the snail shell I added a More Mustard button tied with a piece of Linen Thread.  Cute!

I hope you like these two little mini cards.  I have more to come in the next few days so check back again.  Thanks!

Box for my Mini Card Class

Last week I had my monthly Hands-On class and we made Mini Cards – little 3×3 cards with envelopes.  I wanted a box to hold them all in and found the perfect box in the Stampin’ Up! Holiday Mini Catalog.  It is the new Kraft Gift Box.  This one decorated in a very vintage style because I wanted to stick with neutral colors since I had an assortment of various colors and styles of cards that we were making in the class.  The box is the perfect size to fit 3×3 mini cards and envelopes but it is also a food safe box so you can fill it with cookies, candies or a muffin or cupcake – yum yum!

This is the side view of the box.  I stamped directly on the box using Early Espresso ink.  I used two different stamp sets – Best Friends Forever and French Foliage.  I also sponged the edges of the box on all corners with Early Espresso ink.  Around the base of the box is a strip of Early Espresso Patterns Designer Series paper – you need two strips punched with the Lace Ribbon Border punch.  You need a strip that has 12 full flowers – three for each side of the box.  So match up the ends of the two strips and glue together – I use a 2-way glue pen.  Then punch out 1″ circles in Very Vanilla card stock and glue to the back of the strip behind each flower.  It will look like this:

Then glue the strip around the base of the box – I used the Multipurpose Liquid glue in the green bottle to do this.  Just put  a tiny bit on the back of each circle and then glue three on each side of the box meeting in the back.

Here is a view of the top of the box –

I created a 3d flower for the top of the box.  I used the First Edition Specialty Designer Series paper.  I cut  3 of each layer – 3″ Circle die, 2-3/8″ Scallop Circle punch, 1-3/4″ Scallop Circle punch, and 1″ Circle punch.  Crumple up all the circles and then flatten out a bit and stack them.  They are not perfectly lined up on top of each other you want them to be a little off center from one another.  Once they are all stacked poke a hole through with the paper piercer and then stick in an Antique Brad.  Also poke a hole in the center of the box lid – push the brad through to secure the flower to the top of the box.  Take a Stampin’ Sponge and Early Espresso ink and sponge the petals of the flowers.

To finish I stamped “hand crafted” from Tiny Tags on Crumb Cake card stock and punched with the Jewelry Tag punch, sponge the edges, poke a hole and tie to the brad with a piece of Early Espresso Baker’s Twine.  Tie a piece of Crumb Cake Seam Binding around the base of the flower.

Now close the lid and take the whole box and put it inside the color catcher.  Spritz it all over with the Vanilla Shimmer Smooch Spritz.  On all sides and the top.  Let dry and you are done!  A beautiful gift box to give to someone special.

Over the next few days I’ll be sharing all the 3×3 mini cards that we made along with some instructions for each one.  So please come back to see them.

And here are a couple of other pictures I wanted to share with you from the class.  Aspen and Magnolia love my stamp classes because they get lots of attention from all of my stampers.  And they like to sit with us too.  So most everyone is willing to share a chair with the dogs – especially Aspen.  Here he is sharing a chair with Jeannette.

The chairs are just the perfect little head rest for the dogs.  Usually they sit on the other side of the table because then they can look out the window and see the chipmunks, squirrels, and birds out there.

A couple more things – it’s the LAST DAY for the Summer Mini Catalog on the Buy 3 Get 1 Free Designer Series paper sale.  Hurry and order today Wednesday, August 31st by midnight.  You can order online through my website store – click here.